Took 4 months, but here's the bus!

[RomaniGypsy]

Drove it home yesterday. 2004 International CE300, DT466E, AD2000, 155,xxx miles, ~7,300 hours. Y'all heard of the crazy weather that northeast Ohio and northwest PA have been experiencing? Add to that the fact that my town does a terrible job plowing its roads (EVERY surrounding town, including the townships, has better roads in EVERY snowstorm than this town does)... yeah, I've never been so scared to drive a vehicle in all my life!

But... my wife was behind me (so that I couldn't be followed by a cop who would hassle me or possibly much worse for not having a license plate on the bus - check out my thread about how Ohio is a real PITA if you want to know why I couldn't get plates)... and she said that I drove it like an old pro. Well, it may have LOOKED that way...

She got a picture of it today, parked in the spot that I snow-blew for it (check out how much snow we still have), before we get another foot-and-a-half dumped on us between tonight and Sunday.

And so it begins!

(Any of y'all know a quick fix for a nonfunctional gauge cluster on this bus? It seems that the entire cluster isn't working. Literally, all gauges and both counters aren't registering nor moving. The gauges light up, but the needles froze shortly after I started driving - meaning they stopped moving, not that the temperature was too low, which it is, but anyway - and no amount of banging on the dash got them to work again.)

[Tango]

Brrrrrrrrr!!! Congrats on getting it home in one piece and best of luck on the build.

I will assume you know not to stick your tongue on the bus in that weather.

[Robin97396]

Who's going to stop you when you're out driving a yellow bus around in a blizzard? The only way you were going to get some attention would be if you were a yellow school bus in a ditch. You could be 12 years old driving a bus in that blizzard and they're not going to stop you.

And so stands our argument that yellow buses are indeed invisible, especially during blizzards. A growing number of people have driven buses home without license plates or temp tags without getting stopped, because yellow buses are invisible.

Congratulations on a bus in another happy home.

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by Tango

Brrrrrrrrr!!! Congrats on getting it home in one piece and best of luck on the build.

I will assume you know not to stick your tongue on the bus in that weather.

I don't intend to put my tongue on it even in the summertime.

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Who's going to stop you when you're out driving a yellow bus around in a blizzard? The only way you were going to get some attention would be if you were a yellow school bus in a ditch. You could be 12 years old driving a bus in that blizzard and they're not going to stop you.

And so stands our argument that yellow buses are indeed invisible, especially during blizzards. A growing number of people have driven buses home without license plates or temp tags without getting stopped, because yellow buses are invisible.

Congratulations on a bus in another happy home.

That's just the point. It wasn't snowing, but still, a big school bus, with black spray paint on its lettering and numbering and flashing lights, out on these bad roads, during Christmas break?! One would think THAT would stand out. And further, I have the world's worst luck when it comes to cops. For a dude who never even shoplifted a pack of gum, they seem to be out to get me.

[tobeamiss]

Congratulations on finally getting your skoolie. Looks great! Now comes the fun stuff!! Glad you made it home ok . I would have been terrified too lol


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[EastCoastCB]

Cool! Same year and engine as my shorty.
Did you get the egr on non-egr version?
Either way make sure the coolant is 100% kosher.
Most of the problems with these engines stem from the coolant and the seals it comes into contact with.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy

I don't intend to put my tongue on it even in the summertime.



That's just the point. It wasn't snowing, but still, a big school bus, with black spray paint on its lettering and numbering and flashing lights, out on these bad roads, during Christmas break?! One would think THAT would stand out. And further, I have the world's worst luck when it comes to cops. For a dude who never even shoplifted a pack of gum, they seem to be out to get me.

Sure, the vehicle stands out. After all, it was designed to. But it's a school bus, and it doesn't set off any of the triggers a cop is looking for, unless you are doing something stupid.

[Robin97396]

While your bus is yellow you'll rarely get a second look. After I painted mine I started getting these long stares as I drive by the police. I just wave as I'm going by.

I also never stole anything, but it seems the cops think I'm a criminal and the criminals always think I'm a cop. Stuck in the middle.

[Rusty]

Woot ! Glad you made it home safely. Roads are crap around here, 4x4 or stay home.

The instrument clusters on these buses are crap. They don't like to be over-voltaged, and these buses get jumped and boosted.

Take a sheet of notebook paper and write down alllll the things wrong with the bus in a list. Fold the paper into quarters so it makes a squarish shape.

Pour a double old fashioned glass full of good Rye, Scotch, etc and place it on the folded paper as a coaster because it will be awhile until you can afford that good hooch again.

[BlackJohn]

Nice looking rig and congrats to you and the Mrs getting you both in the home driveway safely. Xmas card pretty there and here too, a good time for a toddy and enjoy your new toy.

Happy New Year

John

[Johnny Mullet]

I am glad you finally found the bus you wanted! I know what you mean about the weather! I live in the same area as you and the roads in that port town are terrible.....

[Robin97396]

Do you guys ever get these city slickers that go on and on about how much fun it is to build snowmen?

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Cool! Same year and engine as my shorty.
Did you get the egr on non-egr version?

I really don't know. How would I find out?

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Either way make sure the coolant is 100% kosher.
Most of the problems with these engines stem from the coolant and the seals it comes into contact with.

How would I do that? (Is it simpler just to flush the coolant?)

Originally Posted by Rusty

Woot ! Glad you made it home safely. Roads are crap around here, 4x4 or stay home.

The instrument clusters on these buses are crap. They don't like to be over-voltaged, and these buses get jumped and boosted.

So are you saying the cluster could be fried completely?

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

Nice looking rig and congrats to you and the Mrs getting you both in the home driveway safely. Xmas card pretty there and here too, a good time for a toddy and enjoy your new toy.

Happy New Year

John

Yeah, it's pretty... I just wish I didn't have to drive in it.

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

I am glad you finally found the bus you wanted! I know what you mean about the weather! I live in the same area as you and the roads in that port town are terrible.....

Somehow, all of the surrounding towns and townships get plowed... except this one... this morning I had to head out early to do some shows and I swear, I was driving on a relatively well-traveled road which still had at least 6 inches of unplowed snow on it, and possibly more. I was skidding all over the place. Fortunately I was going slowly and had 4x4.

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Do you guys ever get these city slickers that go on and on about how much fun it is to build snowmen?

No. The sheer volume of snow tends to keep those people away... and nobody builds snowmen in 10 degree weather anyway. Lake effect or not, that snow doesn't clump well.

[Iceni John]

I'm curious, what's all that strange white stuff on the ground? Is that what is called "snow"? I don't understand. We don't get it here when it gets really cold, like it was this afternoon when the temperature plummeted down to the 60s and the sun disappeared behind a cloud. On days like today with a windchill in the mid-60s, I take sensible precautions when I go outside - I wear my slightly thicker T-shirt and shorts and I even put on my winter-weight insulated flipflops, and obviously I still use sunscreen. I was working on my bus today with just shorts on, but I think I may have felt a slight chill in the air for a brief moment. Only the toughest can survive our winters here. Brrrr.

John

[RomaniGypsy]

Originally Posted by Iceni John

I'm curious, what's all that strange white stuff on the ground? Is that what is called "snow"? I don't understand. We don't get it here when it gets really cold, like it was this afternoon when the temperature plummeted down to the 60s and the sun disappeared behind a cloud. On days like today with a windchill in the mid-60s, I take sensible precautions when I go outside - I wear my slightly thicker T-shirt and shorts and I even put on my winter-weight insulated flipflops, and obviously I still use sunscreen. Only the toughest can survive winters here. Brrrr.

John

The strange white stuff is indeed called snow. We tolerate it because we won't pay the >1,000% markup to live where it's never found. Only the richest can survive winters there. Out here we prefer to live our lives and enjoy the days, without worrying about the cost of living. Besides, snow is pretty. It's no fun to drive in it, but the kids love getting snow days...

Maybe I'll give you another reason to imagine me in a straitjacket... I lived in Texas for 5 years before moving to Ohio. In all that time, the most snow I saw was 2 inches. The kids got two consecutive snow days for that.

[EastCoastCB]

I've only REALLY seen snow once. That was picking up that bus in KY in November. Icicles hung from the leaky roof hatches!

FL is rather cheap to live in, other than the incredibly low wages.

Here's an EGR cooler for the DT466-



I'm still learning about engines this new, but my 2004 non-egr DT466 just sprung a MAJOR coolant leak out of the front timing cover.
Upon doing some googling, the DT466E's were plagued with front cover problems. The red ELC coolant EATS the aluminum on the thin front cover casting and the only fix is to pull the front of the engine apart and replace the cover, which usually involves a revised inner and outer cover. VERY expensive.
If yours has the original, non-updated timing cover I'd run a different coolant than the red.
I had never heard of this timing cover failure on the DT466's before but its a pretty common failure, especially in the mid-2000's DT's.

[cadillackid]

theres pricey rents and also some gems of pretty cheap places in florida.. even to vacation.. those nice little coastal no-name Motels all up and down the A1A on the east coast will often cut you a long term deal if you want to stay for a few weeks or month.. they arent on the internet so its just drive around and walk up to the door and talk to the owners.. they arent elegant but you'll be next to the beach, have a shower, many times a kitchenette, frig, a window A/C (might not have heat), and a color TV.. one thing i have found about fliorida too is that around the beach areas parking Busses seems to be pretty easy... now granted both of my busses still look like busses and not RV's but ive parked in "bus only" parking and never been bothered.. even in the cities like st pete, west palm, melbourne.. ft myers..

I do think its funny when people ask me if i build snow men when it snows... ha! they have no idea how 6 degree F snow actually is... at least a yard blower clears the driveway of this kinda snow easily...

I wanted to go try to do donuts in the school bus friday night but with the mild winter last winter, the snow removal teams were all over the parking lots too quick to stand a chance.. they are hungry for those jobs!
-Christopher

[Seriousracer]

Yes buses do do doughnuts.
Put the kids all the way in the back.
It is all I have to say.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by Seriousracer

Yes buses do do doughnuts.
Put the kids all the way in the back.
It is all I have to say.

THAT sounds, er, reads like the voice of experience.....

M

[Robin97396]

I'll admit, I have yet to do a doughnut in my bus. That seems like a good way to rearrange all the stuff inside my bus.